The USS Cadecus is a hospital cruiser or floating MASH unit capable of deploying to whatever area needs her services. We would be capable of carrying medical supplies to distant colonies, run a combat support hospital under fire, while at the same time running field triage units on the ground. Disaster relief would also be under our purview. Formerly operated as a Guild in coordination with the Medical & Science Guild.

Paula quirked her eyebrow at the strange looking plant that bore some minor similarity to the member of the nightshade family back on Earth.

"Betazoids have tomatoes?"

Silently protesting having to move the full-bodied plants from one side of the main Hydroponics Bay to the other-- she moved the pots one by one to the reproduction chambers where they would hopefully get a few thousand seedlings in the next couple days.

After planting only a small portion of the tomato plants, and other native species that they had brought on board. Paula began to seriously doubt if this would be enough to feed a planet with such a destroyed agriculture.

Betazed needed a new family of plants-- genetically engineered to:

1. Be nutritionally valuable.
2. Be able to withstand rough weather conditions.
3. Be able to reproduce fast.
4. Be able to produce an edible product quickly.
5. Be able to grow in both high-quality and low-quality soil.
6. Require little care until harvest.

These plants would be the main food supply for great portions of the population until proper replicators could be restored. Thus it was a temporary solution-- however one that could produce results within weeks.

Her thoughts turned to existing plants that met those qualities. Generally these plants were barely nutritious grasses or weeds. Grasses required a lot of care, but weeds-- well a weed was a weed because it didn't require any care and reproduced at an alarming rate and was hard to get rid of with anything short of chemicals.

Dandelions. It hit her like a ton of leaves. Dandelions on Earth were nutritious wild edibles that had been purged from modern agriculture-- but were adult in only a week, and their method of reproduction scattered them across every nook and cranny within months. Granted they weren't as refreshing as a tomato-- but her mother used to make a great dandelion soup.

She was sure if she could get into the splicing lab that she could create a more nutritious, more productive dandelion, maybe one that could be seeded, reproduce, and harvested within the span of a week-- with modern genetic engineering it wouldn't be too hard, she'd just have to be careful.

Paula bolted out of the hydroponics bay after grabbing a package of dandelion seeds. "If anybody needs me, I'll be in the splicing lab!!"

Mia Stood in the transporter room Waiting for The Captain and the Ambassador to arrive. +CO+ I have Cleared Transporter Room One For you Captain. I am standing by to initiate transfer of the Ambassador's belongings to the Black Pearl."

"Dr Gibbons? I'm Dr Starkiller. Welcome aboard the Cad. Come over here to this biobed and we'll begin your physical. I see that you're a Trauma specialist. We'll need your expertise on Betazed. We're a little short handed right now. Our previous CMO and his siter had to leave suddenly and I was left in charge. Just relax, I'm sure that you've been through this routine before."

Clarice chuckled as the young Dr rambled on. "Dr Starkiller, I was briefed before I arrived, and I am fully aware of why I was sent here."

She handed Dr Starkiller the PADD and moved over to a biobed, turning on the scanners as she did. "You will find that I am still in perfect health since my last physical, 3 weeks ago."

Clarice could tell she was slightly nervous, and who wouldn't be. Having been running the department for all intents and purposes for the past few months only to have some 'other' DR show up at her door. That would make any doctor nervous.

She sat on the biobed, and waited to see what Starkiller would do next. A sort of test, if you will, to see how capable this ensign really was.

Dreia sighed as all of Jason's bags were transported away. She was trying hard not to let him see how emotional she was feeling. She wanted to be strong, she had to be. "We should go, Mia is waiting for us in the transporter room." She walked to the door ahead of him. Together they walked to the transporter room. Several crew members made their farewells to Jason as they walked by. Dreia looked up at her husband with a sad smile and thought, "I know this has to be as hard on him as it is for me."

They finally reached the TR. Mia was waiting quietly by the controls. Driea turned to Jason once more, "I guess this is it. Please, keep yourself out of harm's way." She wrapped her arms about his waist and lay her head on his chest. "Come home to me, to us."

Larinda smiled as she listened the the new CMO. "Of course, Ma'am, we'll begin."

Larinda began with the basic medical scan and saw that this doctor was correct. "You are in excellent health, doctor. I'm glad to be able to turn the running of this department over to you. The staff has been preparing emergency kits for when we arrive on Betazed and, doing a detailed inventory of what we have available to give to them. I would be glad for any input you would have on the subject."

The biobed beeped, telling them both the scan was completed and Larinda made a note on the PADD. "I am now able to certify you for duty, Dr. Gibbons. I formally turn Sickbay over to you. Welcome aboard."

Clarice smiled and slid off the Bio Bed. "Thank you Dr Starkiller." She walked over to the CMO's office.. her office with the Ensign walking beside her as they spoke. "Have you assigned teams for triage and surgical units yet. And unfortunately we'll need at least two med techs to assist with Graves Registry, not an easy task, but a necessary one." She sat behind the desk and turned on the computer, "we'll also need someone to act as liason between the Betazoid physicians and our teams. They are most likely overwhelmed at the moment, and we need to assist them in any way possible. We have to remember, this is thier home.. they'll know the best treatments for their people. Tell our people to remember that. I don't want the Betziod people to feel like we are barging in and taking over. " She looked up at Starkiller, "even if that IS sort of what we are doing. You do understand what I am saying, don't you?"

Mia had completed the transfer of Jason Gonzalez's belongings to the black Pearl. She stood by quietly as the couple made their final farewells. She nodded to Jason as he stepped onto the TP. She wished she didn;t have to send him away, but she also knew Dreia would never allow that. Duty was duty, no matter how hard it was.

She watched as Dreia stepped back and nodded, never taking her eyes from her husband. As Mia began the transport she thought ~don't worry Jason, I'll watch over them.~ And then he was gone. Mia checked the transport communication from the Black Pearl. "Black Pearl has received Ambassador Gonzalez and is departing. Ma'am," She said to Cpt Gonzalez.

She looked at the Captain only to see her still looking at the TP, nodding silently. The captain turned and left the TR.

Mia sighed and called the Transporter Operator back to take over. He must have been waiting just outside because he was in the room almost as soon as she had finished calling for him.

"I've got it now, Lt," He said with a sort of sad smile, "I know how hard that had to be for them."

Mia nodded, "Yes, but we all have difficult tasks, Ensign." With that she turned and exited the room, heading for the Bridge.

Stepping off the TL she saw Dreia in the Command chair. Mia moved over to her station and relieved Ensign Marquett. Checking the scans and coms she turned to the Captain, her hands behind her back, "The Black Pearl has cleared the area Ma'am, escort ships reporting ready to continue on your word."

Allyson wrote:Clarice smiled and slid off the Bio Bed. "Thank you Dr Starkiller." She walked over to the CMO's office.. her office with the Ensign walking beside her as they spoke. "Have you assigned teams for triage and surgical units yet. And unfortunately we'll need at least two med techs to assist with Graves Registry, not an easy task, but a necessary one." She sat behind the desk and turned on the computer, "we'll also need someone to act as liason between the Betazoid physicians and our teams. They are most likely overwhelmed at the moment, and we need to assist them in any way possible. We have to remember, this is thier home.. they'll know the best treatments for their people. Tell our people to remember that. I don't want the Betziod people to feel like we are barging in and taking over. " She looked up at Starkiller, "even if that IS sort of what we are doing. You do understand what I am saying, don't you?"

Larinda nodded as they walked. "Yes, ma'am, teams have been assigned and we have been blessed with three med techs who volunteered for Graves Registration duty. I've studied on Betazed before and, if you like, I'll volunteer to be liaison. I....have...had some personal friends there. some were killed during the invasion but, I can contact the ones still there. I know they'll welcome our assistance."

She smiled sadly, "I understand perfectly, Doctor. I'll have the teams begin assembling what they will need. Will we be using the transporter or shuttle craft once we arrive?"

The gene splicing lab was a rather odd place on a starship. The very name conjured up images of Mary Shelly-type Frankenstein images of sewn together bodies.

But in this case Paula slaved over a few sewn together plants. It was near the end of her duty shift-- she would have to pick her daughter up from school. Family first after all... The improvised dandelion seeds were planted in test containers and put under grow lights. With any luck, she would be able to see the full bodied plant the next day.

She had engineered the dandelion, a native plant of Earth, to be 50% bigger, with a 26% increase in soil nutrient effciency meaning these dandelions would be bigger and healthier while growing in very dead soil. The stem and flower would be high in starches while the leaves would have greater iron and vitamin-B subcomplexes.

She had written a report and sent it, signed and duplicated, over to both Commander Kehdar and whoever was in command so they could look at her work. She would be able to brief them on her progress the next day.

Dreia was looking over the reports from the different departments. She noticed that there had been two new arrivals. Dr Clarice Gibbons, the new CMO, and another Science officer, Ensign Kailena Reinhard. Both were already checked in by her CSEC. She had to smile. Mia was nothing if not efficient.
Dreia stood up and walked over to the closest thing she had to a friend on the ship. "Lt Cummings, thank you. I appreciate what you did for Jason and me. And I also appreciate your effectiveness in bringing in the new personnel"

<Tag Mia>

With a quick smile and a nod she said, "In either case, Mia, Thank you." She walked back over to her chair and sat down to get back to the reports.

She moved on to the daily department reports. There was one that piqued her interest. Dr White had been put in charge of creating a food source that would grow quickly in the Betazed and provide nourishment. What she had come up with was quite ingenious.

She opened a com to the young Science officer. "Captain Gonzalez to Dr White, when you have a few minutes I'd like to discuss your experiment."

In the lightly adorned family quarters of the White family of two-- Paula had just put Brianna to bed with a nice bedtime holo-story. As the soft music of Bach played through the quarters a loud comm signal came through the shadows.

"Captain Gonzalez to Dr White, when you have a few minutes I'd like to discuss your experiment."

Paula ran over to the comm and turned down the volume. Then whispered a reply. "O-of course Captain, I just put Brianna to bed... let me find her a sitter and I will be right up!"

He covered her mouth with both hands so as not to wake her babe and quickly ran to the computer terminal to find a sitter who was on duty. With this short notice, she knew she was asking a lot-- but with this many Doctors aboard, one of them had to have a sense of Motherly-wantonness....

Dreia smiled and shook her head slightly. She opened the com to Dr White again. "Dr, the morning will suffice. No need to upset your routine. Stay home with your little one. We can discuss this in more detail tomorrow."

<Tag White>

Dreia knew it was late, and she was weary, but she just didn't want to face the emptiness of her quarters just yet. Alpha shift had been over for almost two hours. She got up from the command chair and passed the bridge over to the duty officer. Getting on the TL she directed it to the lounge. After all, she had to keep up her diet. For her and the children inside her. She wondered how long it would take before some noticed that she was, well, getting a bit round in the belly. She was now well into her second trimester from what she could figure out. She still hadn't talked to any medical personnel, nor anyone else besides Jason for that matter, about her condition.

There just never seemed to be good time.

She sighed as she entered the lounge and found a table where she could watch the stars. A waiter came over and she ordered a grilled chicken salad and a glass of Milk. The Waiter looked at her a bit funny for a second but said nothing. A few moments later he arrived with her food.
She looked out at the stars as she ate, her thoughts going to the upcoming mission.

They would arrive at Betazed in a little over 10 hours. Then she would go to the planet and see what they could do to help the planet get back on it's feet and set up the Medical units to treat the wounded. She was certain there would be some enemy forces to be treated as well and proper precautions had to be made for them as well.

She had finished her meal and was going over all the possible logistics in her head as she continued to look out at the stars. Every once in a while her eyes would wander to that section of space where her husband was now stationed.

Mia had been relieved on the bridge and had made her way to the lounge. She had been deep in discussion with a few of the other crew members about what was happening in the quadrant when she saw the Captain enter. She really didn't think much of it, everyone has to eat. After a while the conversation moved on to other matters, like what was the best place to for tarkalian ale. She sat back, not much interested in the current topic and noticed the Captain staring out at the stars.

She knew the Captain was a strong woman, but with her husband being called away right at the start of the mission, and without warning, well that had to take it's toll. Especially for someone in her condition. Only now that Jason had told her did she actually notice the Captain's slightly larger than usual abdomen. She had made a promise to Jason, and she would keep it.

Excusing herself from the others, she stood and made her way over to Dreia.

"Ma'am, would you mind a little company?" She said with a smile as she sat in the empty chair opposite Dreia, "I think you need a nice cup of tea. My mother always said it helps to ease the soul."

Dreia smiled and shook her head slightly. She opened the com to Dr White again. "Dr, the morning will suffice. No need to upset your routine. Stay home with your little one. We can discuss this in more detail tomorrow."

"Morning, right-- morning. White out."

She put down her badge and closed the terminal. In one way and out another. Captains somehow managed to stay awake 24/7 and for the love of her Paula couldn't quite understand.

Tomorrow's breakfast-- bacon and grits, some orange juice. She didn't cook, nobody cooked. She did squeeze the oranges herself though-- there was nothing like fresh squeezed.

The lights went out across the rooms, the Doctor of alien life put her satin gown on and crawled under the covers.

Last edited by Zachary_Eastwood on Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Dreia looked from the stars to her CSEC and smiled. "Yes, company would be nice, Lt. It's been a very long day." She smiled as Mia sat down. "I was just thinking about the mission, I want to go planet side to assist but my specialty won't be of much use. But With Jason gone... " she said as she turned and looked out the window.

Mia knew the Captain wanted to go down, but she had made a vow to Jason to prevent that. She tried to word her protest in such as was as to leave Dreia no alternative but to stay on board without letting her know that Mia knew of her medical condition.

"Captain, In light of our current Command status, it is imperative you remain on board the Cadecus. I am sure Ambassador Gonzalez would tell you the same thing. Ma'am."

Mia also looked out at the stars. "I know you miss him. But think of it this way, He is making sure that there will be peace for future generations."

<Tag Dreia>

Mia nodded to the Captain and stood up. "Well then, I must get some rest Ma'am. While my shift doesn't start for 11 hours, we should be reaching Betazoid within the next four." She smiled down at the CO, "Might I suggest you do the same."

Dreia had to smile, "You are quite right, Lt. I will heed your advice and try to rest for even a little while. Once we are on station I will be to busy to be so self indulgent." She stood up, nodded to her CSEC and headed to her quarters. She was tired, and as she lay down on the bed she could almost feel her husband lying beside her. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily, soon sleep took hold.

Larinda wrote:Larinda nodded as they walked. "Yes, ma'am, teams have been assigned and we have been blessed with three med techs who volunteered for Graves Registration duty. I've studied on Betazed before and, if you like, I'll volunteer to be liaison. I....have...had some personal friends there. some were killed during the invasion but, I can contact the ones still there. I know they'll welcome our assistance."

She smiled sadly, "I understand perfectly, Doctor. I'll have the teams begin assembling what they will need. Will we be using the transporter or shuttle craft once we arrive?"

"I Appreciate the offer, Dr, " Clarice said with a smile, "I am sure you want to check on your friends, but I need someone not quite so close to the problem, someone who will be able to get what we need, and get it fast. Can you put aside your frienships and concentrate on getting our people into place. I also will need to set up a high security area for treatment, Just in case we get prisoners that need to be treated as well."

<Tag Larinda>

Clarice walked beside Larinda into the office and sat down at the desk began to go over the list of personnel and compared it to the reports from the Betazed's overworked medical staff. "Hmm, We'll also need a counselor. From what I am reading here, there are several patients who are suffering from shell shock.. and are unidentified at the moment."

Clarice looked up at Larinda, "Well. Looks like we'll have our work cut out for us, Have the medical teams prepped and ready to depart when we reach Betazed." She Smiled at Larinda, "Try to get some rest before we go, not that either of us will, but once we are on the planet, I think we'll find very little time for that."